AskMen Selects: Barret’s Buys for May 2019

5 Grooming Products Hand-Picked for May by Our Style and Grooming Editor

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Style and grooming are a big deal for us here at AskMen. You might come for the awesome sex and dating content we offer, but chances are, if you’re looking good, you’re feeling good, and if you’re feeling good, you’re going to be putting a lot more of that sex and dating advice to good use. Am I right?

As AskMen’s style and grooming editor, I try hard to do my part everyday in suggesting products that will make your life look and feel better. That’s why I’m launching a monthly round up of what I consider to be the best items for you guys to try. Each month you can shop my personally curated list of products that are guaranteed to get you laid. Well that’s a lie, but you know what I mean. Let’s take a look:

Gillette SkinGuard Razor

Let’s get something straight — I’m not a daily shaver. My career choices may not have made me rich, but they have let me control my facial hair, so we’ll call that a win I guess. However, I prefer to be clean-shaven, I just don’t like the irritation it gives me. Sure, for some guys more blades means a better shave. I was sure I was going to have a seven-blade vibrating heated razor that sang a song to me while I shaved pretty soon, but Gillette just let us know we have another option.

Falling somewhere between that straight razor option — favored by a lot of guys with coarse, curly facial hair that tends to go rogue — and a multi-blade system — that may give you a smooth shave but can really start your morning off in a bad place if you’re not careful — there is the new SkinGuard. The careful design allows for a smooth shave. By flattening skin while shaving and reducing the pull that lifts the hair above the skin’s surface — and subsequently can help it fall back below — it reduces the chance of ingrowns tremendously.

I cannot recommend this enough, or at least giving it a shot. It comes in at under $20 for the razor and four additional blades and it fits with most of the Gillette handles you have at home, so there is really nothing to lose — except for ingrowns. Loose those. They suck.

Baxter of California Skin Concentrate BHA

Speaking of smooth skin solutions, Baxter of California has recently launched a new product that I can’t get enough of. It uses a gentle formula highlighted by the beta hydroxy acid, or BHA, in the form of salicylic acid, plus vitamin E and caffeine.

Salicylic acid is a perfect addition to my routine (and probably yours too) because as the weather warms up and humidity starts to kick in, us men and our thicker skin really benefit from using a gentle form of exfoliation such as salicylic acid every day. It’s a great ingredient that helps keep blackheads away and ingrowns at bay. Plus, the glass bottle makes recycling the container when I’m done a no brainer.

Dollar Shave Club Groundskeeper Deodorant

I’m always trying out new deodorant (I try out so much deodorant) so I can honestly say I have felt and smelt almost all there are. Therefore, to put a deodorant in my short list of recommended products must mean it’s good. Really good.

This new Groundskeeper deodorant from Dollar Shave Club is just what I was looking for this summer. Light and fresh, but not something way out of left field compared to all the other fragrances I use on my body (I layer my fragrances, what can I say?). And since so many warm-weather scents use bergamot, this is just about a perfect addition to my underarms. If you’re looking for an antiperspirant instead, you’re in luck as it offers antiperspirants in the same scents for the same price.

The Motley Bergamo Cologne

See? Bergamont. It’s like the chambray of fragrance. It’s lightweight, stylish, goes with just about everything and looks (or smells) good on just about everyone. So it’s easy to have this citrusy note smell completely different depending on who creates it as well as who wears it.

This bergamot rendition from The Motley skews more herbaceous than its super citrus summer counterparts and that’s thanks to the tomato stem and cut grass notes giving that crisp lemony limeness a well-rounded base, without making it heavy.

Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen

What I love about this sunscreen is that it’s not one of those heavy or white face lotions with a great SPF but a bad texture. This choice is clear — you heard me, clear. It goes on like a gel and absorbs quickly. That means it doesn’t leave white or residue behind in facial hair, which is something I know I can have a problem with, being someone who has tried out different sunscreens every day. It’s literally my job.

Have you tried any of these before? Are you looking for more info on these or other products? Check back every month for my 5 favorites, keep reading all our content on AskMen and ask us anything in our guyQ forum. Follow Barret Wertz and AskMen on Instagram and AskMen on Twitter and Facebook to tell us some of your favorite products. Or email us directly at Editorial@AskMen.com with “AskMen Selects” in the subject line.